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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Stacy’s luck seems to be changing when she volunteers to sing with Trace, Jason and Pace for the Battle of the Bands. Winning this contest would get her closer to her professional music goal, certainly not her personal one, as guys this good-looking wouldn’t be interested in her.

But when they each show admiration for her talent and appreciation of her other assets, her dead mother’s voice of morality holds her back from following her passion - until the men convince her she deserves to pursue all her dreams.

Excerpt:

Stacy Thomas glared at the song lyrics in front of her as the breeze off Lake Michigan ruffled the notebook page. She was missing something with her words. They sounded flat and deficient, kind of like her sex life at the moment.

Sipping her small, plain coffee under a shaded café table, she glanced at the sandy-haired guy in the black t-shirt at the next table. Since he was engrossed in the Chicago Tribune’s sports page, she ignored her dead mother’s voice in her head—which had grown louder since Stacy had moved back into the Evanston house she’d inherited—telling her it was rude to stare.

He was just the kind of man who could spice up her fantasies, but who she wouldn’t have a shot at, especially today with her hair pulled back in a no-fuss ponytail and her dark-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. Neither did much for her too-round face. And she certainly wasn’t dressed to impress in her old t-shirt, shorts, and worn-out Teva sandals.

Without taking his eyes from the newspaper, he grabbed his coffee cup and bought it to his full lips. The motion brought Stacy’s attention to his tanned, muscular forearms covered in blond hair. She imagined he must have similarly dense hair on his chest that would feel silky under her fingertips.

Her gaze followed the line of his arm, over his nicely defined biceps and up to his broad shoulders. He wasn’t bulky like a bodybuilder, more like a football player or a physical laborer, and he wasn’t top-heavy. Having watched him walk out to the patio with his coffee earlier, she knew his jeans hugged some nice thick thighs and a tight ass.

He caught her gawking and winked one of his blue eyes. Her cheeks burned as she dropped her head and stared at her notebook on the table.

A soft chuckle reached her ears from his direction. “Do I have a chocolate moustache?” His deep bass voice vibrated through her.

“Chocolate?” She looked up in surprise.

He lifted his cup as if he were toasting her. “Hot chocolate. I can’t stand the taste of coffee.”

“But it’s close to eighty degrees out here.”

He raised a brow. “What’s in your cup?”

“Coffee.” The cheapest thing she could buy that allowed her to get out of her empty shell of a house and occupy one of the café tables.

He shook his head. “I’ll never understand the prejudice against drinking hot chocolate in the summer when drinking hot coffee is deemed acceptable in any weather.”

She laughed, pleased that he seemed to have a brain to go with all his yummy brawn. “I never thought of it that way.”

"Yeah, it's tough to be a chocolate fan. Takes lots of perseverance and thick skin."

Friday, October 14, 2011

Stacy’s luck seems to be changing when she volunteers to sing with Trace, Jason and Pace for the Battle of the Bands. Winning this contest would get her closer to her professional music goal, certainly not her personal one, as guys this good-looking wouldn’t be interested in her. But when they each show admiration for her talent and appreciation of her other assets, her dead mother’s voice of morality holds her back from following her passion - until the men convince her she deserves to pursue all her dreams.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Today, I am pleased to introduce Amy Valenti, talented author of a new Lust Bite coming this month to Total-E-Bound!

Always the Quiet Ones

“It’s always the quiet ones” – what a great phrase! As a ‘quiet one’ myself (well, offline, anyway), I have to attest that it’s true. People think I’m mild-mannered and innocent when they first meet me, but it’s lies, all lies! I enjoy proving them wrong…

I’m not sure why it is that people with quieter temperaments tend to go more for naughty stuff. Maybe it’s a question of ‘walking the walk’ rather than ‘talking the talk’? All I know is, some of the most sexually adventurous people I’ve met are very, very quiet in everyday life… ;)

I decided to write a M/F/F threesome based around the assumption that the ‘quiet one’ wouldn’t be up for kinky sex, or a relationship with her best friend since childhood. The main character, Nicola, keeps her submissive tendencies close to her heart. Her best friend, Lee, assumes she doesn’t have them. And their friend Dana, the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of Casual Sex’, is just the girl to pull them together… while having a little fun of her own, of course!

Check out a little excerpt from the short story:

“I’m going to take you through to the bedroom now. If you can’t handle what you see there, just call your safe word and we can come back through here to talk about it, okay?”

A little uncertain, but still riding the tide of unfulfilled desire, Nicola nodded, trying to figure out what could possibly be so scary. Dana smiled and gently kissed her, then put a hand to her back, guiding her down a short hallway to a closed door.

She opened it and gestured for Nicola to go first. Curious, Nic walked into her bedroom, scanning the room for safe word-inducing equipment.

The last thing she expected to see was Lee, shirtless, sitting at the edge of Dana’s bed.

Nicola forgot how to breathe, and her mind became a mass of confused thoughts and feelings. The emotional overload was so intense that she almost spoke her safe word. If Lee had been fully clothed, she probably would have.

He wasn’t, though. He got to his feet, and his chest and abs looked just as toned as they’d felt whenever he’d hugged her in the past, and his eyes travelled over her in a way they’d never done before…

What does this mean?

“Nic.” She looked over at Dana, grateful to have something to focus on. Dana placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do you need to safe word?”

“I…” She still didn’t know, and it took her a moment to recall the word she wanted to use. “Yellow. I need time out.”

Dana nodded and leaned against the doorframe, waiting. Nicola turned back to Lee, trying not to blatantly check him out for the second time in less than two minutes. “I don’t… I mean… Why are you here?”

He ignored the question, cutting to the most important issue. “Do you want me to leave, Nic?”

“What? No!” He smiled, then—just a little, but enough to reassure her. “I’m just confused.”

“Dana figured we’d never get together on our own, so she came up with this.”

Nicola glanced over her shoulder, but the doorway was empty. I’m alone with Lee. In a bedroom. And he’s not wearing a shirt.

Oh, God…

He took a step towards her, and continued when she didn’t flinch or step back. He slid his fingers over her jawbone, up behind her ear, and she closed her eyes, leaning in to the touch.

“Am I dreaming?”

There was a tinge of amusement to his voice. “Hope not.”

“Is this…just for tonight?”

“With Dana? Maybe.”

“No, with you.” When she opened her eyes, his face was so close that her knees went weak. His lips were just a couple of inches from hers, and his eyes were such a soft, familiar brown, and he smelt so good… She’d never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in her life, but she dared not, not until he told her whether it was just a one-time thing.

His voice was low, intense, barely audible as he repeated himself. “Hope not.”

Nicola rested her fingers over his heart and he sighed, pushing forward against her hand. His gaze dropped to her lips and he was so close now, but holding back—why? She spoke his name, and it emerged almost as a whimper. “Please—”

You can grab Always the Quiet Ones at Total-E-Bound’s site from October 31st – Happy Halloween!

Amy Valenti is a tarnished tease, and her mind has lived in the gutter since the day she realised what sex was. She hails from England, which she doesn’t find quite as exotic and sexy as the average US citizen seems to, but if people want to compliment her on her accent, that’s all fine with her!

Her muses are many, fickle and very demanding.She has a degree in creative writing and currently works as a proofreader/copy editor. In her free time, she reads, writes and plays videogames. On the rare occasions she doesn’t have a laptop on her knee, she loves to curl up with friends and pets – and chocolate – for TV show and movie marathons.